At the previous Olympics he had a tenth place from 1972 and a fourth place from 1976. This ranks him tenth among German hammer throwers, behind Ralf Haber, Heinz Weis, Karsten Kobs, Günther Rodehau, Holger Klose, Christoph Sahner, Klaus Ploghaus, Markus Esser and Matthias Moder.
His biggest success came at the 1984 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles, United States where he won the silver medal. In addition he won the bronze medal at the 1978 European Championships and finished seventh at the 1983 World Championships. His personal best throw was 80.80 metres, achieved in July 1980 in Rhede.
